Growth factors play an important role in angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, and vasculogenesis. Growth factors regulate angiogenesis in a variety of processes including embryonic development, wound healing, and several aspects of female reproductive function. Undesirable or pathological angiogenesis is associated with diseases including diabetic retinopathy, psoriasis, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, atheroma, Kaposi's sarcoma, and hemangioma (Fan et al., 1995, Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 16: 57 66; Folkman, 1995, Nature Medicine 1: 27 31). Angiogenic ocular conditions represent the leading cause of irreversible vision loss in developed countries. In the United States, for example, retinopathy of prematurity, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related macular degeneration are the principal causes of blindness in infants, working age adults, and the elderly, respectively. Efforts have been developed to promote angiogenesis in treatment of these conditions (R. Roskoski Jr., Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology, 62 (2007), 179-213).
Therefore, there is a need for new therapeutic compounds for the treatment of diseases associated with aberrant signaling of growth factors, such as cancer, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy.